Comprehensive Notes on Major Crops and the Green Revolution

Major Crops

Learning Outcomes

  • Locate major crop regions of the world.
  • Differentiate between food and cash crops.
  • Relate agricultural development to the economy of a country.
  • Discuss agriculture in light of their own country, a land of farmers.
  • Discuss how the Green Revolution has helped in agricultural development.

Introduction to Crops

  • Crops are cultivated plants grown by farmers, consisting mainly of grains people eat.
  • Vegetables and fruits also fall into the category of crops.
  • The chapter focuses on two types of crops: food crops and cash crops.
  • Agriculture is the chief means of livelihood for more than 50% of the population of Asia.

Food Crops

  • Food crops are grown primarily to provide food for people.
  • Include cereals like rice, wheat, maize, barley, and millets like jowar, ragi, and bajra.
  • Also include pulses (dal in Hindi) such as gram, tur, moong, and masur, and spices such as cardamom, pepper, ginger, and chilies.
  • Rice and wheat are the most widely grown food crops.

Growing Seasons in India

  • Food crops are identified according to the season they are grown in.
  • Three main growing seasons: kharif, rabi, and zaid.
Kharif Crop
  • Grown from July when the rains begin and harvested in November when it is dry.
  • Examples: rice, maize, jute, turmeric, millets, cotton, pulses, groundnuts, sugar cane, and soybean.
  • Season starts in June and ends in October, mainly in the rainy season.
Rabi Crop
  • A winter crop grown in October and November and harvested around February and March.
  • Examples: wheat, barley, peas, sesame, and mustard.
Zaid Crop
  • Grown from March to June.
  • Examples: vegetables such as bitter gourd, sweet potatoes, yams, and pumpkins, and fruits like watermelon, musk melon, pineapples, grapes, and litchis.

Quick Facts: Fodder Crops

  • Besides food and cash crops, there's a third type: fodder crops.
  • Fodder crops are grown mainly for feeding and fattening livestock.
  • Examples: maize and oats.

Rice

  • Staple food for more than 50% of the world's population.
  • A good source of carbohydrates, which is the body's main source of energy.

Conditions for Growth

  • Temperature: Between 20°C to 30°C.
  • Rainfall: Requires a good amount of rainfall, about 150-200 cm.
  • Soil: Fertile and clayey soil that holds water is best, such as deep fertile clayey and loamy soil; alluvial soil along river banks.
  • Grows in both tropical and temperate regions.

Areas Where Rice Is Grown

  • Most important crop in India.
  • Regions in India:
    • Gangetic Plains stretching from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to the Sunderbans in West Bengal.
    • Brahmaputra Plains in Assam.
    • Eastern coastal regions of India that include the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
    • Western coastal plains of India from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka to Kerala.
    • Central states that include Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
    • Punjab and Haryana in the north.
  • Other countries: China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar; Brazil, Japan, and Argentina are also important producers.
  • China is the world's largest rice-producing country, followed by India.

Wheat

  • A cereal crop which belongs to the grass family.
  • Grows well in temperate regions.

Conditions for Growth

  • Temperature: Grown mainly in the winter months when the temperature is around 10°C and 15°C for sowing, though it requires warm sunny temperature between 20°C and 25°C during ripening.
  • Wheat is a crop vulnerable to climate change.
  • Lower levels of moisture at the time of planting in October or high temperatures in February when the crop is ready for harvesting become a serious threat to the crop.
  • Rainfall: About 50 to 100 cm of rainfall during the growing season. Frost or hailstorm at the time of ripening can destroy it. About 80 cm of annual rainfall is ideal for wheat cultivation.
  • Soil: Well-drained alluvial soil is good for growing wheat. It grows best in well-drained loams and clay loams.

Areas Where Wheat Is Grown

  • In 2021, India was the world's second-largest wheat-producing country, after China.
  • Wheat is the most important food crop of north India and forms part of the basic diet of the people.
  • Second only to rice in importance in India.
  • Uttar Pradesh is the leading wheat-producing state in India. Together with Punjab and Haryana, it produces about 60% of the total wheat produced in the country.
  • Other wheat-growing states or union territories include Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, and Maharashtra; Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and West Bengal also produce a little wheat.
  • Other countries: the USA, Russia, France, Canada, Australia, Germany, Pakistan, Ukraine, Argentina, and Chile. The USA and Canada are also the largest wheat exporters.
  • Cultivation in some countries such as the USA, Canada, Russia, and Australia is scientific and highly mechanized.

Cash Crops

  • Grown primarily for cash or for commercial purposes.
  • Sold in the market for profits.
  • While food crops feed the farmer, his family, and livestock, cash crops are sold by the farmer to enable him to earn more money.
  • Examples: sugar cane; oilseeds such as mustard, groundnut, soybean, canola or rapeseed, sunflower, linseed; coconut, and fibre crops like cotton and jute.

Sugar Cane

  • A popular kharif crop grown in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world.
  • Like wheat, it belongs to the grass family.
  • Sugar cane stalks grow from 2 m to 6 m in height.
  • The juice can be taken directly after being extracted; vendors selling sugar cane juice in glasses are common in India.
  • By-products include molasses and ethanol for fuel and industrial alcohol.

Conditions for Growth

  • Temperature: Needs a hot and humid climate with an average temperature between 21°C and 27°C.
  • Rainfall: Requires rainfall between 75 cm to 150 cm per annum. In areas of less rainfall, farmers resort to irrigation.
  • Soil: Alluvial soil; the lava soil of the Deccan in India is well known for sugar cane cultivation.
  • Although some sugar cane is grown using seeds, the most popular method is stem cutting which must contain at least one bud. The stems are planted in the ground by hand.
  • Raw sugar cane juice is obtained for making sugar. The juice is further processed to make products like molasses, jaggery (gur), ethanol, industrial alcohol, etc. The crushed fibre, known as bagasse, is used for the manufacture of paper and fibre boards.

Areas Where Sugar Cane Is Grown

  • India is the second-largest sugar cane producer in the world after Brazil.
  • Two distinct sugar cane-producing regions: the northern belt and the southern belt.
  • The northern belt comprises Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar; the southern belt comprises Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
  • The European Union, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, and Indonesia are some of the other important sugar cane-growing regions/countries of the world.

Quick Facts

  • Ratooning is the practice of harvesting a monocot crop (any flowering plant belonging to the grass family such as sugar cane, palms, etc. having a single embryo or seed) by cutting away the plant just above the ground leaving the roots intact to allow the plant to recover and produce a fresh crop for the new season. The word 'ratooning' most probably comes from the word 'retonsus' meaning 'to cut down'.
  • Uttar Pradesh is the number one producer of sugar cane in India followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
  • According to reports appearing in the media in 2022, India emerged as the world's largest producer and consumer of sugar and the world's second largest exporter of sugar.
  • The success of the sugar industry in India is attributed to the combined efforts of the Central and State Governments, farmers, sugar mills, ethanol distilleries, and other industries in the country.

Cotton

  • Comes from Arabic word 'koton' meaning any fine fabric.
  • Egyptian cotton has the longest fibre length of 7.4 inches.
  • Cotton absorbs plenty of water and the more water it absorbs, the stronger it gets. Cotton seeds are used as animal feed, edible oil, and in pharmaceuticals.
  • Most important of all fibres used in the world.
  • In 2022, India was the largest producer of cotton, followed by China and USA. India is often referred to as the 'birthplace of cotton'. In India, the cultivation of cotton began about 3000 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilization.

Conditions for growth

  • Temperature:
    • In India, cotton is a kharif crop requiring a uniformly high temperature from 21°C to 30 °C. In fact, during the day, the temperature should be above 26°C, which helps in ripening and bursting of cotton bolls.
  • Rainfall:
    • About 50 to 80 cm of well-distributed rainfall is needed.
  • Soil:
    • In India, cotton is grown in lava soil that is black and clayey.
    • Black soil was formed millions of years ago from volcanic ash.
    • Black soil's clayey characteristics make it ideal for growing cotton crops. This soil is appropriate for the growth of cotton because it has a high clay content and a good capacity to retain water.

Areas where it is grown

  • The leading cotton-growing states of India are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
  • The world's largest cotton producing countries in 2021-22 were China, India, USA, Brazil, Pakistan, Australia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Argentina and Mali.

Jute

  • A long, soft vegetable fibre (fibre from plant) that can be spun into strong but coarse threads.
  • Most affordable natural fibre that can be made into many useful products.
  • Because of its low cost, strength, lustre and uniformity, jute is in great demand today.
  • Jute has been in use in India, the Middle East and Egypt since 800 BCE.
  • Because of its shiny golden colour, jute is also known as the 'golden fibre'.

Conditions for Growth

  • Temperature:
    • Jute is a kharif crop which is sown around February and March.
    • The crop needs a hot and humid climate. Humidity must be around 80 to 90 per cent. The average temperature for jute must be between 24°C to 35°C.
  • Rainfall:
    • Heavy rainfall, more than 150 cm of rainfall and a lot of water is needed when the crop is growing as well as at the time of harvesting.
  • Soil:
    • Alluvial soil in the flood plains as well as deltas and the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta of India and Bangladesh is well known for jute production. Clayey soil gives the heaviest yield of the crop.

Areas Where It Is Grown

  • India is the largest producer of jute in the world, followed by Bangladesh.
  • Other countries that produce jute are China, Uzbekistan, Nepal, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Brazil, Vietnam and Myanmar.
  • In India, jute cultivation is confined mostly to the eastern states, with West Bengal being the largest jute-producing state in India both in area and production. Other important states are Bihar, Assam, and Odisha.

Knowledge of India

  • The jute industry is one of India's oldest industries. The country has been trading in this versatile fibre for hundreds of years. West Bengal, Bihar and Assam have millions of people engaged in jute cultivation and trade.
  • Jute production: India ranks first globally in jute production. The jute plant's stem and ribbon (outer skin) are used to produce jute fibre.
  • Jute export: Jute products are in high demand outside India. In 2022, India exported jute products valued at more than *37,000 million to other countries.
  • Speciality of Jute: Jute is biodegradable and environmental-friendly. This 'golden fibre' (called so due to its shiny appearance) undergoes a variety of processes such as spinning, weaving, bleaching, dyeing, and finishing. Due to its versatility, natural jute is used to make ropes, curtains, carpets, sacks, etc., and is a very sturdy and safe packaging material.

Plantation Crops

  • A plantation is a very large area of agricultural land where cash crops are grown on a very large scale.
  • These cash crops are called plantation crops. Tea, coffee and rubber are some examples of plantation crops.

Tea

  • The most common beverage in the world and is considered to be a very important health drink and stimulant (a drink that energizes your body for a while).

Conditions for Growth

  • Temperature:
    • Tea is a perennial plant that grows well in both tropical and subtropical regions. It requires a moderately hot and humid climate. Temperatures between 21°C and 31°C is good for its growth. When the temperature rises above 32°C, it is not favourable for optimum photosynthesis.
  • Rainfall:
    • Between 150 cm to 200 cm of rain is required; water must not be stagnant and must drain out of the plantation. Lack of rain or drought affects the quality and the flavor of tea.
  • Ample shade is required for bushes by the presence of trees in the plantation.
  • Soil must be well-drained and rich in humus and organic matter
  • Tea can grow either on the slopes of mountains or on flat land. But tea bushes grow best in hilly regions where water does not stagnate because of hill slopes. The beverage is prepared from tea leaves plucked with care from tea bushes. Therefore, tea cultivation is labour intensive.

Areas Where It Is Grown

  • The largest tea producing nations in the world in 2022 were China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Iran and Argentina.
  • In India, the main tea-producing regions are Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Other tea growing regions of India are Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and the Kangra hills in northern India. The finest quality tea is grown on the hill slopes of Darjiling in West Bengal. Both Chinese and Indian tea are famous for their aroma and quality.

Did You Know?

  • Tea is the world's most popular drink, after water. It is believed that tea originated in north-east India, north Myanmar (Burma) and south-west China. However, the exact location of its origin is not known. There is evidence that tea was consumed in China about 5,000 years ago. Some people believe that tea is not only a drink, but a part of their culture and tradition.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  • Goal 5: Gender Equality
    • The tea plantation industry employs over 50 per cent female workers who undertake physically demanding and perilous tasks, including carrying heavy loads on uneven terrain in adverse weather conditions. These workers often reside in areas prone to infections and waterborne diseases. The nature of their labour-intensive job, such as tea-leaf plucking, consistently maintains a high female workforce participation. The Assam government has implemented a minimum wage policy for tea plantation laborers and collaborates with multiple NGOs to offer healthcare services and educational opportunities. Furthermore, national initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan strive to provide housing and sanitation facilities for all citizens.

Coffee

  • Made from roasted seeds called coffee beans that grow on coffee trees.
  • Coffee is a tropical and a subtropical plant that grows well on hill slopes. There are four types of coffee - Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica. India produces Arabica and Robusta coffee. Arabica is the most popular and widely consumed coffee.
  • Tropical coffee grows best between 1,200 m and 2,000 m. Subtropical coffee grows best at altitudes between 600 m and 1,200 m. It is sensitive to frost and direct heat and therefore grows well in the shade of evergreen trees.

Conditions for Growth

  • Temperature:
    • Coffee plants thrive in hot and humid climate. The average temperature must be between 15°C and 28°C.
  • Rainfall:
    • It must be between 150 cm and 200 cm. The temperature must not exceed 30°C. Since strong, direct sun is not good for coffee crops, coffee is generally grown under large shady trees.
  • Soil:
    • The soil must be loamy and well-drained. It must contain plenty of iron and calcium.
  • Coffee is grown on slopes, and like tea, water must not be stagnant. However, dry weather is required at the time for the berries to ripe. Labour for plucking, sowing, weeding, pruning, packaging and handling of coffee should be well-trained, skilled and cheap.

Areas where it is grown

  • Coffee is a beverage second in popularity to tea and is consumed in almost every part of the world.
  • Brazil is the world's largest producer followed by Vietnam, Indonesia and Colombia. India is the fifth largest producer of coffee in the world.
  • The other coffee-producing nations are Ethiopia and Honduras.
  • In India, Karnataka is the highest coffee producing state (54 per cent), followed by Kerala (19 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (8 per cent). Nearly 70 per cent of India's coffee is exported to the European and Asian markets.

Rubber

  • Made from the sap of the rubber tree. The sap is called the latex.
  • Latex is collected in small cups attached to the tree with the help of wires. It takes six years before trees can produce the sap. A typical tree can produce about 9 to 10 kilos of rubber each year. While rubber trees are found in the forests of the Amazon and Indonesia, they grow to a height 40 m in the wild. Cultivated rubber trees are much smaller.
  • A lot of manual labour is required for collecting or tapping the latex. It is then taken to the factory where it is purified, dried and made into rubber sheets. From these sheets, tyres, tubes and other things used in various industries and homes are manufactured.

Conditions Required for Growth

  • Temperature:
    • Rubber grows in tropical countries with average temperatures of 20°C and 35°C.
  • Rainfall:
    • Rubber trees require heavy rainfall between 200 cm and 300 cm annually. Rubber requires over 75 per cent humidity.
  • Soil:
    • Rubber trees are grown on hill slopes so that water does not stagnate. The soil is well-drained loamy or laterite soil.
  • Rubber was first known to be used by the natives of South America around 1600 BCE. Rubber, as accidentally discovered by an Englishman in an eraser, was in the 18th century. Charles Goodyear invented the process called vulcanization.

Areas Where It Is Grown

  • Internationally, Thailand is the largest rubber producer followed by Indonesia, Vietnam, India and China. In India, some of the rubber producing states are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.

Green Revolution

  • Refers to the spectacular increase in the production of food grains in the 1960s in India. It had its origins in Mexico and the Philippines, where scientists developed new varieties of wheat, maize and rice in the 1940s.
  • The new variety of seeds was introduced to Indian farms in 1967 by the Nobel Peace Prize winning agronomist, Dr Norman Borlaug.
  • There were acute food shortages at that time in India and the government was importing huge quantities of grain, especially wheat, mainly from the USA.
  • To improve the situation, the Indian government began to take crucial steps to tackle food shortages. As a part of the government's efforts, under the supervision of Dr Borlaug, Indian farmers began to plant new dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties of seeds, particularly of wheat in the plains of Haryana and Punjab. The introduction of these high yielding variety (HYV) of seeds resulted in a spectacular increase in crop production.

Features of the Green Revolution

  • Traditional agricultural practices gave way to modern and scientific methods of cultivation.
  • There was a marked decrease in shifting agriculture in many parts of India.
  • The genetically improved high yielding varieties of seeds of wheat, rice and maize were the most important components of the Green Revolution.
  • The Green Revolution led to an expansion of the fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing industries.
  • There was a significant expansion in the network of canals for irrigation during the Green Revolution, because the HYV seeds require a lot of water.
  • In India, farmers had the opportunity for multiple cropping, thereby increasing their income considerably.
  • Rural electrification expanded and so did the network of roads and railways to carry produce from villages to cities.

Impact of Green Revolution

  • The Green Revolution helped in the development of agriculture and farmers in India to a great extent. It also led to the economic development of the country.
  • The Green Revolution has led to a phenomenal increase in the production of food grains. The overall increase in the production of food grains was more than two times and the production of wheat, in particular, increased by more than three times after the Green Revolution.
  • With the increase in agricultural production, farmers became prosperous and their earnings increased. However, this was seen mostly in the case of big farmers having land of more than 10 hectares.
  • Big farmers benefitted the most from the Green Revolution technology as they could invest huge amounts of money in high-yielding variety of seeds, fertilizers, latest machines, etc.
  • The Green Revolution led to a drastic reduction in the import of food grains. With the increase in the production of food grains, India became self-sufficient in food grains. There was now surplus stock which could now be exported to other countries.
  • The increase in agricultural production also led to an increase in per capita availability of food grains, in spite of a rapid increase in population.
  • As the income of the farmers increased, they used their surplus money for improving the agricultural productivity. This further led to an improvement in agriculture.
  • The Green Revolution also led to an increase in the industrial growth of the country. Large-scale farm mechanization increased the demand for agricultural machines like tractors, threshers, combine harvesters, diesel engines, pumping sets, electric motors, etc. There was also a marked increase in the demand for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, etc. This, in turn, led to an expansion and growth of industries that produced these things. Many agro-based industries which used agricultural products as raw materials such as the textile industry and the sugar industry, came up in large numbers.
  • The Green Revolution also created several new jobs in the country. Due to multiple cropping and use of fertilizers, the demand for labour to work in the fields increased. In the recent years, a large number of farm workers from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh have migrated to Punjab as they find better opportunities there to earn their livelihood.
  • The Green Revolution also changed the basic attitude of the farmers towards agriculture. The Indian farmer had been traditional and using conventional methods of cultivation since the early times. But today, Indian farmers are using new methods and techniques of farming which have significantly increased agricultural production.
  • In the state of Punjab, there has been a three-fold increase in the yield per hectare since the Green Revolution. Punjab was one of the first states to use the high yielding variety. of Mexican wheat, chemical fertilizers and scientific techniques. The Punjab government also provided cheap credit facilities and financial help to the farmers, encouraged formation of cooperatives and spread education among the people. Now, the government also controls the selling price of the crop in order to protect the farmers.

Demerits of the Green Revolution

  • The use of HYV seeds increased wheat production by 70 per cent, rice by 40 per cent and maize by 30 per cent. However, the Green Revolution also had a number of drawbacks.

The following are the main drawbacks of the Green Revolution:

  • The benefits of the Green Revolution were confined to rich farmers in Punjab and Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and parts of West Bengal, since it was only they who could afford to buy expensive seeds, fertilizers and machinery. Poor farmers could not afford the new and expensive varieties of seeds.
  • The crops required abundant water supply and arranging the means of irrigation for this became a time-consuming and expensive exercise.
  • The cost of fertilizers, pesticides and machinery also increased and went beyond the reach of the average farmer.
  • Farmers were encouraged to take loans but many of them ended up incurring large debts without any protection in case their crops failed.
  • New machinery replaced manual labour, which led to an increase in unemployment. The influx of workers from villages seeking employment in cities increased, leading to overcrowding in the cities.
  • One of the greatest drawbacks of the Green Revolution was the extreme dependence on artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Extreme dependence on fertilizers and pesticides brought about a depletion of the natural rejuvenating capacity of the soil, which led to a drop in the average yield of crops.
  • Farm water polluted with fertilizers and pesticides caused and is still causing immense harm to biodiversity. It has been affecting human health, with a proven rise in the incidents of cancer.